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West African Republic
The West African Republic is a nation bloc in Africa. It is currently listed as a Tier IV nation by the Berlin Group although this may be improved to Tier III if the economy continues to develop at its current rate. Statistics *Capital:- Gabon City (pop. 4.21 million) *Population:- 297.35 million. *Area:- 6.43 million square kilometres Economy The Republic has a diverse economy although agriculture and heavy industry are the largest factions. At the current rate of economic growth the GDP of the Republic will surpass that of Carthage within three years and possibly that of Kenya within ten. Military Ground Forces The National Army (NA) is primarily a light infantry force trained and equipped for national and colonial defence rather than offensive missions. A single armoured division with three brigades forms the NA’s “iron fist” and this is supported by three light infantry divisions, an air mobile brigade, and two Special Force regiments. Around a third of the army’s manpower is made up of conscripts undergoing two years service although this number is slowly decreasing as the Army is becoming more and more attractive as a career for young men and women, especially as service increases the chances of been allocated land off-world upon completion of ten years service. The three light divisions rotate through the colonial defence role with each taking turns to deploy one of their brigades to the colony of Distant Place in the New Frontier. Recently the National Army has introduced the Iwe (Fury), a new family of 8x8 wheeled combat vehicles which currently includes an APC, an IFV, a reconnaissance vehicle, two types of engineer support vehicles and an ambulance. Future variants include a mine clearance vehicle, a command vehicle, a series of air defence variants (SAM and SPAAG), and both missile and laser armed tank destroyers. Around two hundred and forty examples have entered service to date with more than a thousand (of all major variants) on order for the NA. Export orders have been received from the Asian Co-Prosperity League (two hundred IFV and a similar number of support vehicles), Kenya (over a thousand vehicles, many to be built under license), and Sri Lanka (eighty APC and ten ambulances). Another potential customer is the Martian Defence Force who have a requirement for around three hundred vehicles. Space Forces Like several other mid-level nations the Republic has purchased a number of second-hand Batch One Town-class frigates from Brazil which have been updated with avionics from several nations including the USA and South Africa. The Space Navy also operates the nations heavy lift shuttles, a mixed force of mostly Hearst Aerospace Mercia and Stillwell S-19 Bluejays. The most recent addition to the fleet been two Boeing 2191 Eagles purchased from a Kenyan haulage company which went bankrupt in 2402. Aerospace Forces The States aerospace fleet is currently in transition with several older designs been replaced by the J-19 Sparrow fighter and theD0-9023 Wasp light strike fighter. Half of the Sparrows are been built on Luna by Stillwell and the rest coming from the production line set up in Brazil to supply the FAB. As well as the fighter force the State’s Aerospace Force operates three squadrons of shuttles which provide support for the country’s special forces. The 17th and 18th Squadrons each fly a mix of AG.4 War Eagle armed drop ships and Breguet ML9 shuttles whilst 19th Squadron operates at least three Stevedore shuttles modified to allow ship-to-ship boarding. Category:Nations